Thanks to Unique Recycling, Tábor Swimming Pool to Save Up to 30 Cubic Metres of Water per Day After Modernisation

Builders from Metrostav DIZ and Památky Tábor are finishing the second stage of the modernisation of the swimming stadium in Tábor. The 25-metre-long pool is progressing towards the “clean” stage every day, and the site has already been taken over by tile setters, plasterers and other finishing trades.

Although a large amount of interior work can be coordinated even in the challenging environment of one large room, the construction work has been delayed. Due to the poor quality of the original pool bath from the end of the ‘70s and beginning of the ‘80s, it was necessary to put the completion date back from mid-October to the beginning of December.

“During the demolition work, we discovered that the original tub had no waterproofing and the tiles were fixed directly into the cement layer! This had several unpleasant consequences.
A lot of water was lost during operation and this was reflected in a moisture build-up in the underlying concrete slabs. The tub was also quite crooked. Before we could start work on the new composition, we had to let the base dry properly. The tub was then aligned using concrete spraying, which is used, for example, when securing tunnels or slopes,” said Michal Hryzák, project manager from Metrostav DIZ.

While a lot of water was lost from the original pool, the new one, on the other hand, will be characterised by minimal top-up requirements. “Swimming pools have similar filtration to garden pools, but the circuit is not quite closed. Due to the number of visitors and the volume of the pool, it is necessary to replace part of the water regularly by topping it up. Here, however, special plastic overflow tanks will function as a second recycling stage, allowing up to 25-30 m³ of this wastewater to be returned to the filtration circuit daily. The Tábor pool will be only the sixth in the Czech Republic to be equipped with this unique technology,” said Hryzák.

The current project builds on the first stage, which was executed in 2018-2019. At that time, Metrostav’s builders refurbished the children’s swimming pool, showers, part of the changing rooms and the vestibule, as well as the technological facilities. They also built an upper wellness area with a sauna world and a large terrace overlooking the adjacent Jordan Pond.

The second stage concerns only the 25 m swimming pool. As the result must meet racing conditions, the swimming lanes must be measured to the nearest millimetre. The original pool was built in 1982. Not many people know that it has a twin in Písek, which was built according to the same design and is still in operation today.

The investor in the refurbishment and extension of the swimming stadium in Tábor is Tělovýchovná zařízení města Tábora s.r.o. (Tábor Sports Facilities). The contractors are Metrostav DIZ and its local partner Památky Tábor. The total investment amounts to CZK 49.6 m excluding VAT and a significant part of it, totalling CZK 32.3 m, will be covered by a subsidy for “standardised infrastructure” from the National Sports Agency.

Swimming pool operations are very energy intensive and therefore have a significant “carbon footprint”, in addition to high operating costs. In the various stages, the investor (the Town of Tábor and its subsidiary Tělovýchovná zařízení města Tábora s.r.o.) emphasises economy of operation and energy management. In this respect, Tábor swimming pool has several solutions that are significant and innovative in the Czech Republic:

1. Heat recovery from wastewater was already installed as part of Stage 1 of the refurbishment (2018-19). Therefore, the water being drained hands over its heat to the cold “raw” water at the entrance to the premises.
2. In 2021, a 51 kWp photovoltaic power plant (PV plant) including battery storage was installed on the swimming pool’s roof. It was expanded in 2024 with an additional 224 kWp PV plant, shared with the nearby Peace Stadium. During the summer months, the swimming pool and the Peace Sports Hall are powered to a large extent (up to 80%) using renewable energy sources.
3. The next step will be the water management itself thanks to the newly installed filtration system mentioned above.

In recent years, Metrostav Group has become a specialist in outdoor and indoor swimming pools. It has recently built or refurbished them in Brno, Jihlava, Česká Lípa, Znojmo, Kyjov and nearby Třeboň.

Contact details

Radim Mana
Metrostav Group Spokesman
Metrostav a.s. Koželužská 2450/4 180 00 Prague 8
T 266 019 715, M 601 110 376
radim.mana@metrostav.cz, www.metrostav.cz